The Treasure of Netherstrand

Chapter 39

It was chilly outside, but somehow it didn't matter. Down the garden path, the three made an inseparable chain. Timothy was holding on to one of Arthur's hands, and Grace was clasping the other.

The children had chatted and laughed all the way, but Arthur's mind was full of silent thoughts. All around him, dew drops were glittering on the garden flowers, and shrouds of mist hid the near distance from view. Even though it looked almost somber, it was still beautiful to him. His thoughts stole his attention so much that he forgot to begin the morning lesson once the three had sat down in an arbor.

"What are you thinking about, Arthur?" Gracie asked, leaning her head on her brother's shoulder.

He sighed as her voice pulled him back to Netherstrand. "I don't know," he answered with a quiet laugh. "Many things, I suppose."

"D'ya wanna know what I was finkin'?" Timothy asked brightly. "I was finkin' 'bout the treasure me an' Mr. Hannover's been a-lookin' for! I fink we've almost found it! Only, I can't figure out the last riddle; not for anyfing!"

Arthur smiled at the little boy fondly. "Oh, I imagine you can. You are a bright boy. The brightest I have ever known!"

Tim blushed humbly. "Ah, go on!" he laughed. "But it's yer turn t' tell us what you was a-finkin' now. Ya never did, ya know!"

Arthur paused, collecting fragments of thoughts and trying to piece them together. They had all been coming and going at their own will; like flashes of light or splashes of color which hinted at many things but never formed a full picture. As he sat there, he finally understood them all.

"I was thinking about home," he answered at last. "I was remembering parts of my childhood. And..." he hesitated and had to catch his breath as he recalled the most difficult of his reflections, "...I was thinking about my wife."

Oh yes, over and over again he had thought about her. He had remembered and relived the days when she had been his to love and to keep. Sometimes, in the mornings, he had woken up, half expecting to find himself back in his humble, country cottage with a bright and sunny girl stirring porridge in the kitchen. Those memories were still so alive. But the future he and Wendy had planned together was now dim and fading.

"What was ya finkin' about her?" Tim asked.

It was a hard question to answer. But somehow Arthur managed it. "I was thinking that once I had planned to take her back to my estate, Clemence Hall," he answered. "I wanted to show her where I had grown up. It is a beautiful place, isn't it, Grace?" He smiled at his little sister and gave her hand a tight squeeze.

"I think it is the loveliest place in the world!" the girl answered. "But it has been ever so long since I have been there. I hardly remember all of it. I went to live at Auntie's house not very long after you left for college. But I do remember that it had a beautiful garden! It was bigger than this one, wasn't it?"

"Yes," her brother answered, smiling. "Big enough to get lost in! And Mother was an excellent gardener. There are so many flowers in that garden, you can smell their fragrance all around the house!"

"And didn't I have a big bedroom all to myself?" Grace asked, trying to remember.

"All to yourself?" Arthur laughed teasingly. "I should say you did! Only you never were by yourself in it. If you didn't bribe Mother into staying the night with you, you came knocking at my door instead. But how could you help it," he added with a gentle smile. "You were such a little girl to be all alone."